Acceptable Use Policy

Why this policy exists

PhotoThaw animates photographs of real people using AI. That makes consent and honesty essential. This policy explains what you may not create, how we enforce it, and how to report content that breaks it. It forms part of our Terms of Service.

You must have the right to use every photo

• Only upload photos you took, photos you own, or photos you have clear permission to use.
• If a photo shows another person, you must have their consent — or, if they have died, you must be authorised by their family or estate.
• Do not upload photos of public figures, celebrities, or private individuals without permission.

Prohibited content — the six categories

The following are prohibited without exception. The list is not exhaustive: if the purpose is to harm someone, it is not allowed here.

• Sexual and NSFW content: no sexual, intimate or pornographic content and no nudity, including attempts to make an ordinary photo appear sexual or intimate.
• Graphic violence and gore: no content depicting serious violence, bloodshed, gore, cruelty to people or animals, or self-harm.
• Hate speech and harassment: no content that attacks, dehumanises or threatens people because of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation or similar; no harassment, stalking or defamation.
• Child safety — zero tolerance: no content that sexualises, harms or exploits anyone under 18, including AI-generated or synthetic depictions. We report such content to the relevant authorities and cooperate with law enforcement.
• Deepfakes, impersonation and non-consensual depictions: no content that shows a real person doing or saying something they did not do — fake statements, fake endorsements, political deepfakes, or placing a real person into a scene they were never in.
• Copyright, trademark and personality rights: no content that uses someone else's photograph, artwork, film, character, logo or trademark without permission.
• Anything else illegal: no content promoting or facilitating illegal goods, services or activities, and nothing intended to deceive or defraud.

Honest use

• Do not present AI-generated video as authentic documentary footage.
• If you publish a video of a real person, make clear that it was AI-generated where a viewer could otherwise be misled.
• Do not use the service to impersonate anyone.

Automated and bulk use

• Do not use bots or scripts to create accounts or claim free credits.
• Do not attempt to bypass credit costs, rate limits, or concurrency limits.
• Do not resell or provide access to the service to others without our written agreement.

What happens if you break this policy

• We remove the content.
• We may suspend or permanently close the account that created it, and withhold unused credits. Accounts closed for breaking this policy are not refunded.
• Serious cases — anything involving a minor, credible threats, or clear fraud — are reported to law enforcement, and we cooperate with their requests.
• Repeated attempts to get around a suspension (new accounts, different email addresses) end in a permanent block.

How to report a violation

If you see content on PhotoThaw that breaks this policy, or someone has made a video about you without your consent, email support@photothaw.com with the subject line "Report".

• Tell us what the content is and where you saw it — the page address, or the account that created it.
• If the content concerns you or someone you represent, say so: those reports are handled first.
• We aim to acknowledge every report within two business days.

How we review and act on reports

Reports are read by a person; we do not leave these decisions to an automated queue. Because an account is required to generate anything, and every generation is stored against the account that requested it, a reported video can always be traced back to its author.

• We check the reported content against this policy, then decide what action the case needs.
• We also act on violations we notice ourselves, without waiting for a report.
• Where a report concerns a person depicted without consent, we can remove the content and stop the account behind it.
• If your own content was removed and you believe that was a mistake, reply to our email and we will review the decision again.